University of South Pacific, a melting pot of cultures [1]
Tuesday, February 18, 2014 - 19:00. Updated on Wednesday, February 19, 2014 - 09:05.
The University of the South Pacific (USP) commenced its academic year yesterday February 17, 2014, with more than 40 international nationalities represented on campus.
USP’s Pro-Vice Chancellor, Professor John Bythell welcomed new students at USP’s main campus, the Laucala campus, Suva, Fiji.
“In addition to students from 12 member countries and others outside the USP umbrella, we have international representatives from over 40 countries on campus. This truly is a melting pot of cultures and peoples not only from the vast expanse of the Pacific but of the world,” he said.
Jelly
“Make sure that you use that lump of jelly inside your skull – it can do remarkable things if you train it well. The entire works of Shakespeare, Einstein’s general theory of relativity, Watson and Crick’s elucidation of the structure of DNA, navigation across the vast expanses of the Pacific – all were done with that lump of jelly and a few simple instruments…”
The University of the South Pacific, established in 1968, is jointly owned by 12 governments: the governments of Tonga, Fiji, Cook Islands, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Niue, Samoa, Nauru, the Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. The USP has campuses located in all these countries.
The current Chancellor of USP is Tonga's King Tupou VI.